Soon after installing Ronald Reagan as president, social conservatives
realized that controlling the presidency meant little if they couldn't
get their plans through Congress and state legislatures. They realized
that it meant more to control local school boards, city and county
governments, and, if possible, state legislatures because these were
the government units that were passing laws which had a greater impact
on our daily lives.

From that realization, particularly in California, has grown a vast
grassroots movement which has been organized by the five men of the
Allied Business PAC to capture the state legislature.

Now, with that goal almost accomplished, Howard F. Ahmanson, the
Allied Business PAC's chief Christian Reconstructionist idealogue and
daddy deep-pockets, has embarked upon a plan to capture California's
school boards.

In November, 1994, Ahmanson was the chief financial backer ($40,000)
of a pilot project in Orange County which raised $63,221 and gave
$61,671 to 36 endorsed candidates for school boards in 15 districts
through a PAC known as the Education Alliance. He was joined by John
and Donna Crean of Newport Beach, who contributed $10,000.

It would appear that because of the unlimited financial resources of
Ahmanson, the Creans, and the rest of the Allied donors, they have the
potential of being far more successful than that any other radical
Religious Right group on the California scene today.

The Education Alliance is reportedly run by a Mark Bucher, 35, from
the office of his business, the Service First Contractors Network in
Tustin.

Although disclaiming any ties to the Religious Right, the agenda that
Bucher says the Education Alliance supports is amazingly similar to
the agendas promoted by the Coalition on Revival (COR), the
Traditional Values Coalition, Christian Coalition, Citizens for
Excellence in Education, and Focus on the Family/Capitol Resource
Institute.

Bucher says that Education Alliance candidates generally oppose state
and federal curriculum guidelines, support a back-to basics approach
to education and want to emphasize American values instead of
multiculturalism. They are opposed to the California Learning
Assessment System and the establishment of health clinics or condom
distribution in schools. They want to see evolution and creationism
taught side by side. They are divided on the question of prayer in
schools.

The real educational agenda of the radical Religious Right is outlined
by an organization spawned by COR called the National Coordinating
Committee. The purpose of this group is the abolition of public
education by the year 2000.

The idea of abolishing public schools was reinforced by Christian
Reconstructionist Gary North in his March, 1995 newsletter. "Our
reform is straight forward; no more taxpayer-funded education," North
wrote. "Not a brass farthing," he concluded, quoting from My
Fair Lady.

Howard F. Ahmanson Jr., the scion of the Home Savings fortune, has
been a member of the board of trustees of the leading Christian
Reconstructionist think tank, Chalcedon, since the mid-1970s. Ahmanson
is also a long-time member of the Council for National Policy. He was
the number-one contributor to Proposition 174, the school voucher
initiative on the ballot in the 1993 general election.

The Education Alliance claimed a 33 percent success rate in the
November, 1994 election which means that 12 of their 36 candidates won
election. In some cases candidates spent up to $7000 to campaign for
their seat. This is an unprecedented amount for school board
candidates to spend. It portrays an ominous future for people who want
to run for school board seats but do not have the financial backing to
make the attempt.

With the help of Ahmanson and Crean, the Education Alliance hopes to
expand its efforts state-wide by 1996 with the additional goal of
sponsoring an initiative to ban public employee unions from materially
participating in elections for public-employer trustee positions on
school boards, city councils, county supervisors, water districts and
so on.

Concerned citizens must do more than just wring their hands. They must
become active in an organization which is trying to alert the general
public and pluralistic Evangelicals as to the real goals of the
radical Religious Right. Coalitions with other civil liberties and
civil rights groups must be formed and become a priority in order to
preserve the freedom of public schools in our country.